Wordorigins.org

cyber-

The prefix cyber- was first used in 1948 by Norbert Wiener (1894-1964), an American mathematician, when he coined the term cybernetics in his book of that title:

We have decided to call the entire field of control and communication theory, whether in the machine or in the animal, by the name Cybernetics.

Wiener based it on the Greek kubernetes, or steersman, which is also the root of the word govern. Wiener may also have based his word on an 1830s French usage of cybernétique, which meant the art of governing, but whether he took it directly from the Greek root or was familiar with the French term is unknown.

Do you think that Ring Around The Rosie makes reference to the Black Death? Or that the whole nine yards refers to WWII machinegun ammo belts? Or that Eskimos have 500 words for snow? If so, you need the Word Myths book. Find out more.